27 November 2007
Sri Lanka’s hardline government has approached Iran for a loan to replace aircraft destroyed by the Tamil Tigers in a daring raid last month. Colombo is also asking Tehran for the supply of oil and gas at concessional rates on credit, the reports said.
These requests are expected to be followed up personally by President Rajapakse during a planned visit to Iran shortly.
Iran supplied $150m worth of arms to Sri Lanka in 2005, barely weeks after the Indian Ocean tsunami devastated the island.
Indian security analyst B Raman, a former additional secretary to the Government of India, writing for the South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG) said last week Sri Lanka has requested Iran, through a Malaysian Muslim of Indian or Sri Lankan origin for an urgent loan at low interest.
The loan is to enable Colombo to purchase trainer and electronic surveillance aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles in replacement of those lost during the recent ground-cum-air attack launched by the LTTE on the Anuradhapura air force base, he said.
The report also said the Sri Lankan government has also requested Iran for the supply of oil and gas at concessional rates on credit.
According to the report, the Malaysian Muslim, who is acting as the intermediary, is a close personal friend of A. Q. Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist, and had come into contact with key Iranian officials in the past through A. Q. Khan.
In October this year, the Sri Lankan government extended its support for Iran’s ambitions to acquire nuclear technology.
The Islamic republic of Iran, labeled by US president George Bush as part of ‘an axis of evil’ is under intense pressure from US and European Union over its controversial nuclear programme.
The US and the EU believe that the Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), is working towards developing nuclear weapons.
The US has seemed to threatened military action against Iran.
However, interestingly, Muhammad Zuhair, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Iran speaking to media in October this year dismissed rumors of a possible US attack against Iran and declared that the United Nations conventions allow Iran to conduct nuclear researches.
Ambassador Zuhair added that the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sideline of the UN General Assembly in New York that month would pave the way for the further expansion of Iran-Sri Lanka ties.
At the time Zuhair also said that Sri Lanka opposed imposing any new sanctions against Iran. However, the US introduced further sanctions against Iran in November.
This is the second time Sri Lanka has turned to Iran for beef up its military capability. In January 2005, the Sunday Times newspaper reported the purchase of USD 150 million of arms from Iran.
"Sri Lanka will procure military hardware and oil on concessionary terms. The deal is said to be worth over US $ 150 million," the Sunday Times reported at the time.
"The delegation is to take a look at the wide variety of military hardware available. The Army has identified its requirements after a delegation visited Iran earlier. The Navy and the Air Force will check on requirements. Thereafter the tri services procurements are to be incorporated in an agreement," the paper reported.
"This is the first time the Government is turning to Iran for procuring a broader variety of military hardware on a government-to-government basis. A similar deal was finalised last month with China," the paper pointed out at the time.
The first arms deal with Iran was agreed when then president Kumaratunga visited Iran in November 2004.
The first arms deal between Iran and Sri Lanka was finalized when the then Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga visited Iran in November 2004.
According Sri Lankan government sources President Mahinda Rajapakse is most likely visit Iran after the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government summit in Kampala, Uganda from November 23 to 25.
There were earlier reports in Sri Lanka that the US had requested President Rajapaksa not to travel to Iran.
However, Sri Lankan officials making clear their displeasure at the West for turning the heat on Colombo over rampant Human Rights abuses were quoted as saying: “We know our bread is from the East and that is the new reality.”
China, Pakistan and now Iran are amongst the biggest arms suppliers to Sri Lanka. The United States, Britain, Israel and India are amongst the others.
According to the Sunday Times the government sources they spoke to said that though there was a lot of thunder from the West there was very little rain.
In aid terms US gives about $5 million per year to Sri Lanka, while the EU extended about Euro 129 million for four years and Britain had given less than two million pounds per year. In comparison Japan gave about $900 million, China $600 million and India $250 million per year.
The US embassy told the newspaper that it “does not discuss private exchanges with other governments, including with our friends. However, our concerns about Iran are well known and with any sovereign government Sri Lanka will make its own decisions about how to conduct its foreign affairs.”
Meanwhile, SAAG also reported that Sri Lanka has also requested Pakistan for the replacement of the unmanned aerial vehicles destroyed by the LTTE. Some of the craft lost last month had been given in the past by Pakistan and some others by Israel.
Colombo has also requested China urgently for the latest radar and other air defence equipment, SAAG said.
Pakistani Commandoes from its Special Services Group (SSG) have been training Sri Lankan Commandoes and some anti-LTTE Tamils in secret training camps in Southern Sri Lanka as a prelude to the expected military offensive in the Vanni region in the north, SAAG also reported.
Some of the Sri Lankan commandoes had also been to Pakistan for training in the SSG training institutions.
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), with the help of Pakistani and Ukrainian pilots, has stepped up its efforts for a decapitation strike to kill LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan, SAAG also said.
“A monitoring station to locate the hide-out of Prabakaran has been set up at an unidentified location in the Eastern Province with the help of Pakistan's Directorate of Military Intelligence (DGMI) to identify [his] location,” the report said.
In an interview to the "Sunday Observer" of November 11, 2007, the SLAF Commander Air Marshal Roshan Goonatilleke said that “it was not a difficult task for the SLAF to get at [the LTTE leader] as he was confined to a very limited area.”
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